WELCOME
Motivating Students to
Higher Academic Achievement
by meeting the
Common Core State Standards
“In the future, how we educate
our children may prove to be
more important than
how much we educate them.”
- Thomas Friedman
The Common Core Basics
What is the Common Core?
• Common standards across member states
• Designed to foster college and career readiness
• Internationally benchmarked
Why is the Common Core important?
• Provide consistent expectations for all
• Prepare students for global success
• Allow for collaboration between states
The Key ELA Shifts in CCSS
Shift 1
Text Complexity
Staircase of Complexity
Measuring Text Complexity
Shift 2
Range of Text
Balancing Informational and Literary Text
Literature within other Disciplines
Shift 3
Text Analysis
Analysis, Infer and Use Evidence
Shift 4
Writing to Sources
Writing to Multiple Sources and Research
Shift 5
Academic Vocabulary
Shift 6
Structure and Coherence
The Key ELA Shifts in CCSS
Text Complexity
• Be strategic about academic vocabulary instruction
Every Career Choices/Career Choices and Changes chapter has academic vocabulary.
• Get the gist the first read through and ask “what did we get?”
instead of “what didn’t we get?”…this allows the students to do
more of the work
Both texts encourage Socratic teaching & value students’ opinion and interpretation.
• If necessary read less but more closely
• Take time to slow down, read and reread
• Read together and create scaffolding and strategies.
Due to the differentiation required with reading, especially in middle school & high
school, this concept & standard is not only met but encouraged throughout the
entire text/curriculum!
Continuing Shifts in CCSS
Read like a detective.
Write like an investigative reporter.
Analysis, Inference, and Use Evidence
Insist on text based answers in both writing and
conversation.
Celebrate the text as the first source.
Resist illuminating the students before they ever read.
Focus on the text with less broad general questions and
more text specific questions.
Text Analysis
College and Career Readiness, English Language Arts Anchor Standards
1. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
relevant descriptive details and well‐structured event sequences.
2. Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, pacing and description to develop experiences,
events and/or characters.
3. Use a variety of transition words, phrases and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts
from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences
and events.
4. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details and sensory language to convey
experiences and events.
5. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
Career Choices
• Envisioning the Future paragraph (Chapter 1)
• The Message Center (Chapter 2)
• How Do I Want to Be Remembered (Chapter 3)
…and many more!
ELA Standard:
Demonstrate knowledge of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century foundational works of
American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat
similar themes or topics.
Possible Essential Questions:
Whose story is it? Why does it matter?
In what ways does creative choice impact an audience?
Learning Targets:
I can identify various works of American literature from different time periods.
I can identify two or more texts from the same period that have similar themes or
topics.
“Hope” by Emily Dickinson (Possibilities, page 172)
Read “Hope,” then locate (online or in library) the poem “I Measure Every Grief I Meet.”
Compare and contrast the two poems.
Research specific time period poetry; include 18th, 19th, & 20th century poetry by female
American poets.
Research the results of a specific movement or philosophy; search examples: existential
poetry, realism poetry, poetry of the Harlem Renaissance.
ELA Common Core State Standard:
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide
an objective summary of the text.
Possible Essential Questions:
Am I clear about what I just read?
What are the key ideas and details presented in the text?
What is the connection between the plot and the main idea or theme?
Learning Targets:
I can identify a theme and/or central idea.
I can analyze the relationship between the plot, characters, and theme of the text.
I can compose an objective summary stating key points of the text without infusing my
own opinions.
“Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike (Possibilities, page 273)
Read the poem.
Assignment: What is the theme of the poem?
Complete a character analysis for Flick Webb, then create an objective summary of the
poem that explains the relationship of Flick Webb to the theme of the poem.
CCSS Mathematics
Shifts: Focus and Coherence
FOCUS
Spend more time on fewer concepts. Take great care
with the concepts that are in the standards – so students
have a deep foundation.
COHERENCE
All math flows together with a few simple principles –
authors were charged with developing a progression first.
When students learn new topics we must relate to what
they already know – this is not a new subject each year.
Coherence
• All math flows together with a few simple
principles – authors were charged with
developing a progression first.
• When students learn new topics we must
relate to what they already know – this is
not a new subject each year.
CCSS for Mathematics:
Two Types
Standards for Mathematical Practice
• Carry across all grade levels (K-12)
• Describe habits of mind of a mathematically
expert student
1. Make sense of problems & persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly & quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments & critique the reasoning
of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for & make use of structure.
8. Look for & express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Common Core State Math Standards
Focus and Coherence
When students learn new topics we must relate them to what
they already know. No other topic, regardless of age or grade
level, does this more than MONEY!
Career Choices/Career Choices and Changes
Chapter Four – The Budget
Meets and addresses the following mathematical conceptual
categories represented by the standards:
• Number and Quantity
• Functions
• Algebra
• Modeling
• Statistics and Probability
Math Common Core State Standards
Lesson: Renting or Owning Your Home (Lifestyle Math, page 18)
Mathematical Practices:
#2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
#3 - Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Standard:
Reason quantitatively and use units to solve problems. Choose a level of accuracy
appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities
Possible Essential Questions:
In what way can the choice of units, quantities, and levels of accuracy impact
solutions?
How can the use of appropriate units help solve real world problems?
Learning Targets:
I can choose appropriate units for real world problems involving formulas.
I can use and interpret units when solving formulas.
I can display my findings on graphs and data displays.
Math Common Core State Standards
Lesson: Math Baseball (Lifestyle Math, page 66)
Mathematical Practices:
#2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
#4 - Model with mathematics.
#7 - Look for and make use of structure.
Standard:
Know precise definitions of angle, circle, perpendicular line, and line segment, based on
the undefined notions of point, line, distance along a line, and distance around a circular
arc.
Distinguish between correlation and causation.
Possible Essential Questions:
When does a function best model a situation?
How does the Pythagorean theorem apply to finding the distance between two points?
Learning Targets:
I can use and apply the Pythagorean theorem.
I can apply mathematical practice and functions to real world situations.
I can discuss, explain, and write validity to math into a world situation.
Instructional Planning
NO MORE TEACHING BY TELLING
• Look at potential instruction through the eyes
of your students
• Teach students to use self-questioning and
think aloud techniques
• Think beyond content
• Problem solving, project based learning, and
reality based instruction works every time
• Add humor and incorporate everyday life
Thank you for your time!
Lynn Anderson
Certified Career Choices Trainer and
Professional Development Provider
lyasmin@aol.com  (865) 660-4999